This past week we had the pleasure to learn from Dr. Robert Epstein. Dr. Epstein discussed how Google tracks people at all times through over 200 platforms. Through Google Analytics, Google can track how many people are using their platforms. The funny thing is that Google is transparent about their tracking in their Terms of Service. Unfortunately, many people (including me) skip through the Terms of Service because it is so long. I do understand the want for an ability to track search history in order to detect threats, but tracking people at all times is a little much. I thought it was interesting how Dr. Epstein mentioned how we are the products of Google, and the way we pay for it is with our freedom. I have never really thought about it like that. Ultimately, with corporations like this, they are hungry for power and with power comes money. As Epstein said, the more information they collect from consumers, they make more money. I personally think it's disgusting how with school assignments can truly be accessed without issues through Google Chrome. I use Google Chrome every day because it is easy to use and it is a better server to use for certain assignments. If there was a different server to use for class work, I would rather use that. It's absolutely crazy how we as consumers have become so numb to the fact that we are constantly being tracked by corporations. I feel like in a way, we don't truly have complete freedom even though we live in the United States. Google is a creator of fear. My dad is a doctor and he knows that certain medications help tremendously for coronavirus, but Google censored information like that. In fact, they censored data that created hope and truth. Same with political things. Mostly, more conservative ideas are censored. Google is part of Big Tech and they work with Big Pharma. I wish more people would understand this, and also learn how bad this truly is. With Dr. Epstein's research, he could control the information order for the candidates. He ended up being able to shift the votes to 43% and then to 63%. I feel as though Google is very left leaning, and chooses to show good info about democrats and bad info about conservatives. This easily sways opinions, just like Dr. Epstein found. I did a research paper my junior year of high school about media bias. I found that the majority of the media is run by one major corporation and they control what we see. Just as how Dr. Epstein mentioned, Google swayed people's thoughts on Trump's travel ban using ephemeral experiences. I value my freedom so much. Over the recent years my eyes have been opened too many different things, and I wish that more people would open their eyes because it's right in front of our faces. I truly loved listening to Dr. Epstein about this topic.
